Girls Are the Fastest-Growing Group in the Juvenile Justice System
Mother Jones, October 1, 2015: Girls Are the Fastest-Growing Group in the Juvenile Justice System
“Over the past 20 years, there’s been a promising decline in arrests of youths in the United States. The reasons for the drop are elusive, but one factor might be a renewed interest within the juvenile justice system in paying better attention to child welfare before kids are drawn to crime. States are also seeking alternatives to traditional punishment once kids are in the system.
“But a new report out this week finds that for young girls, the trend is going in the opposite direction. The proportion of girls in the juvenile justice system has increased at every stage of the process over the last 20 years, from arrests to detention and probation.
“The report’s authors, Boston College law professor Francine Sherman and Annie Balck, a policy consultant at the National Juvenile Justice Network, attribute the gender gap to the juvenile justice system’s long-standing ‘protective and paternalistic’ approach to dealing with delinquent girls. The system tends to detain girls, the authors write, because they’re seen as needing protection. It’s a strategy that is ill-suited to the personal histories of trauma, physical violence, and poverty that lead many girls into bad behavior. Even when the system acknowledges these factors, there are limited options available beyond traditional arrests and detention.
“This report highlights several disparities in the treatment of girls in the system. For instance, there’s a gender gap in the detention of girls for low-level crimes: Nearly 40 percent of detained girls were brought in on status offenses (behavior that is only illegal when you’re under 18), compared with just 25 percent of boys.”
Additional reading:
PBS, March 17, 2015: Photo essay: Life inside a juvenile detention center for girls
Shared Justice, October 20, 2016: Hidden from View: The Plight of Girls in Juvenile Detention
Nicki Swift, April 21, 2022: The Untold Truth Of Girls Incarcerated
